Independent Presidential candidate wants general elections called off

Presidential aspirant Solomon Gichira (centre) has said the general elections should be called off

The upcoming August 8th general elections should be called off immediately. This is according to Mr Solomon Gichira who is an independent presidential aspirant. While addressing the media earlier today in Nairobi, Mr Gichira pointed out that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has totally lost its credibility in the eyes of Kenyans, terming it as biased as far as election preparedness is concerned.

Accompanied by his running mate Mr Kelly Watima, Gichira in his speech said that the IEBC is destroying the patience of Kenyans and urged everyone to remain vigilant. He said poor preparedness shouldn’t be the cause of violence, “We must not expose the 40 million Kenyans to the possibilities of disenfranchisement, displacement or violence which may result from poor preparations for this year’s elections.”

He said any failures by IEBC Commissioners may prove to be major barriers to free, fair and peaceful elections. He said that a lot has been handled wrongly in terms of election preparedness, “The failure by IEBC in terms of preparing for the general elections is not equalled in Kenya’s electoral history,” he said. He outlined the areas where the electoral body has failed, which include; Voter education and registration, procurement, the audit of the voter register and poor judgment despite having an adequate budget allocation.

Therefore, the independent candidate called for the cancellation of the general elections, saying they don’t want an election just for the sake of it, but want a proper election which won’t result in the loss of lives as was the case in 2007/2008. He also called for the resignation of all IEBC Commissioners.